Azzaro celebrates 50th anniversary as couture sales grow 72%
Azzaro will launch its 50th anniversary party by showcasing a celebratory collection on Wednesday 25th January at the Hôtel d’Evreux palace, in Paris' place Vendôme, as part of the French capital’s Haute Couture Week. The couture label was founded by Loris Azzaro in 1967, and in 2006 it was bought by the Andorra-based Reig Capital Group. The year-long celebrations for its anniversary will give Azzaro the opportunity to boost its visibility and power up its expansion.
The celebrations will take place in five stages, starting with the haute couture show on Wednesday. "For the occasion, we have re-interpreted some of the label's signature items, with help from two of our old friends," the new CEO Gabriel de Linage told FashionNetwork.com. Azzaro has in fact asked jet-setters Bianca Brandolini and Eugénie Niarchos to apply their own "contemporary" touch to next summer's collection.
Step two of the celebrations will be the opening of a first menswear store in Paris on 2nd March, a 100 m2 boutique in the heart of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, in rue de l’Ancienne-Comédie. "It will be a pilot store, showcasing Azzaro's entire menswear range," said de Linage.
May will then mark the publication by La Martinière publishers of a book retracing the fashion label's history, with a special focus on its archives.
The fourth step will be the couture show next July, with a collection by the label’s new creative director. In the next few months Azzaro will in fact announce the successor to Arnaud Maillard and Alvaro Castejón, who left the label in June 2016 after working on its relaunch since 2013.
Following this, Azzaro will introduce a menswear capsule collection featuring one of its creator's 1970s signature graphic designs, inspired by the bottles of the Azzaro Couture and Azzaro pour Homme fragrances. The motif has been revamped for the anniversary collection, which was unveiled at the recent Pitti Uomo 91, and will feature on embossed leather, wax cloth and as a jacquard print.
"The fashion label has an amazing heritage, and it has managed to preserve it without ever putting a foot wrong. In our ateliers there are people who have worked with Loris Azzaro himself, and who know his world inside out. We have with us both the past and the future, and our growth potential is huge," said Gabriel de Linage.
"Right now there is an extraordinary energy about the brand, we are incredibly buoyant,” he added. In 2016, menswear sales rose by 14%, and couture sales skyrocketed, growing by 72%.
The Azzaro menswear line is available at Paris' Galeries Lafayette Homme department store and in approximately 200 multi-brand stores in France, Belgium, Germany, the Middle East, Latin America and Russia. As for its women's 'pret-à-couture' line, it is available at the historic Azzaro atelier at 65, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris.
The label has recently hired a new Marketing and Communication Director, Charles Platret, taking over from Véronique Zucca, and is looking to exploit its 50th anniversary to the full, building on its current momentum and looking forward to the launch of a women's ready-to-wear line in 2018-19.
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